My cousin's birthday was last week, and as it was nearing that blessed event, I began badgering him about what type of cake he would like. He runs our weekly tabletop game night, and as the poor guy has been DM'ing a Star Wars RPG session for many months now, he definitely deserved the cake of his dreams.
After finally yelling at him in ALL CAPS one day, we met and collaborated on what flavor he desired. He started off with a spice cake request. Fine, but what sort of filling, what sort of frosting, what sort of CAKE!?!
We both then looked at each other over the table and had a mind meld moment. A few months ago I made these apple fritters that the Cuz abso-freakin-lutely adored.
"I'm making you an apple cake!" I blurted with all the enthusiasm of a preschooler who just discovered that sharpie pens don't wipe off of the wall.
"Apple Pie The Cake you mean." Cuz replied.
In that moment I know a look that resembled Gollum when he finally reacquired the one ring spread across my over tired visage.
"Yesssss..."I drawled, my elocution and cadence trilling like a Slytherin who just got ten points for their house, "Apple Pie The Cake it is!"
Now, flavor-wise I knew what needed to be included. Juicy apples, vanilla notes, the components of apple pie spice. I wanted the cake to be a flavors of Fall punch to one's mouth. It just so happened that a bag of Honeycrisp apples were sitting in my new 1%er fridge, so I knew the apple part of the equation was covered, but how to craft a cake that was spicy, juicy, and creamy?
Below is the recipe I came up with. I know it is good because Cuz's eyes rolled into the back of his head when he first took a bite of it. Actually everybody's eyes did a thing which made me worry that there was some DMT or something in my cinnamon. (That was a joke. don't throw pies at me!).
Anyway, with the cake we had big scoops of the homemade raw milk vanilla ice cream I churned recently, and my friends, that whole bowl of Apple Pie The Cake and frozen custard of vanillaness was just sublime. No one component over-powered the other, instead it was a perfect balance of flavor, texture, and spice. If you decide to try this recipe, I can personally guarantee that you won't be disappointed.
And if you are, well that's cuz's fault, it was his birthday request after all;)
Apple Pie The Cake
1 box yellow cake mix (I used Betty Crocker)
1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 cup vegetable oil or melted and slightly cooled butter (I used veg oil this time around)
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
2 cups grated Honeycrisp apples (you could also use a Grannysmith and a Golden Delicious or Jonagold, but Honeycrisp give you the perfect flavor combo of tart, sweet, and juicy).Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Grease and flour or grease and parchment paper circle the bottom of two 8 inch cake pans.
Place everything but the apples in a mixing bowl, mix well using a hand mixer or stand mixer for at least a minute. Stop and scrape the bowl well with a spatula.
Beat batter for an additional minute or two, you want it fluffy and well mixed.
Next, fold in grated apples and spread the batter into the two prepared pans.
Bake cakes 35-40 minutes.
Easy Bavarian Cream Filling
1-3 oz. box instant vanilla pudding
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup milkPlace all ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat until light and fluffy, usually 3-4 minutes. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Cinnamon Buttercream Frosting
1/2 cup room temperature butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups of powdered sugar
2 TBSP milk (or cream, a lot of the time I use whipping cream in my frosting instead of milk.)
3/4 tsp cinnamonIn a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and shortening, then add vanilla and powdered sugar, and 1 TBSP milk. Mix until it starts to combine and add the rest of the milk if needed. Sometimes even more milk is needed to get the consistency of frosting that you want!
Once your frosting achieves spreadable awesomeness, add the cinnamon and whip it well. Like super well! You want it to taste like cinnamon silkiness on a shingle of silk. Or something like that.